4 Sinhalese villagers abducted in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 September 2008, 16:09 GMT]Unidentified armed men in uniforms similar to that of Special Task Force (STF) commandos abducted Friday four villagers who had gone to collect honey in Paa’namai Aa’lavai jungle area in Poththuvil police division in Ampaa’rai district, according to the complaint made Sunday to Poththuvil police by one of the four abductees who had managed to escape.

The villager who escaped and lodged the complaint is Ranasinghe, 35.

The three others abducted are Buddhadas Ratnayake, 45, a father of 4 children, K. G. Thayananda, 52, a father of three children and Selvabandara, 60.

The fate of the above three remains unknown.

The complainant Ranasinghe is held in remand by the police who arrested him for having supplied provisions to Liberation Tigers earlier.

The jungle where the abduction took place is an area frequented by both STF commandos and Liberation Tigers, Pohthtuvil residents said.